Because of Russia: It's the longest airline in the world

The war in Ukraine has caused Cathay Pacific to announce that it will stop passing through Russia's airspace, on the New York-Hong Kong route.

The flight will now last about 17 hours

Walla!

Tourism

29/03/2022

Tuesday, 29 March 2022, 11:29 Updated: 12:26

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Airbus A350 Cathay Pacific (Photo: Cathay Pacific)

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's national airline, plans to change its route on the New York-Hong Kong route, which is considered the longest commercial flight in the world in terms of distance.

The change will be made to avoid flying in Russian skies, due to the attack in Ukraine.

The new route will start as usual at New York's Kennedy Airport, and the planes will fly over the Atlantic Ocean, the United Kingdom, southern Europe and Central Asia.

The distance on the new route will be 16,618 km. This is a longer distance from the flight, for example, of the Singapore Airlines company from New York to Singapore, which stands at 15,349 km (and lasted about 17.5 hours).

Cathay's new flight will take about 17 hours.

Bloomberg News reports that a spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific said the Airbus A350-1000 was capable of crossing the new route, which typically passes through the skies of the Arctic and Russian airspace.

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Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000, long-haul flight (Photo: ShutterStock)

Thanks to the back wind

"We always run alternate routes by chance to unforeseen events or scenarios," a company spokeswoman said.

"The trans-Atlantic option relies on a strong seasonal upwind at this time of year, so the flight time will be between 16 and 17 hours, making it even more convenient than the trans-Pacific route."

Cathay Pacific is now requesting flight permits for the new service.

Prior to the outbreak of the corona, the company operated three daily flights at both destinations.

The new route even eliminates the need for a stopover in Los Angeles, which will make it more economical and competitive for the airline.

It should be noted that other airlines in Asia are now refraining from passing through Russian airspace.

For example, the Japanese airline Japan Airlines, which stopped flying over Siberia and now passes through Alaska and Canada, on the Tokyo-London route.

However, it is likely that these flight changes will be only temporary, given the high costs resulting from the high oil prices, as well as due to the uncertainty regarding the accessibility of Russian airspace.

In the context of the long-haul flights it should be noted that 20-hour flights of the Australian airline Qantas Airways, between Sydney and New York, are soon planned.

The inauguration of this flight line has been delayed due to the global corona epidemic.

The New Zealand airline also unveiled the New York-Auckland route last week.

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